At 14, Jack H. Lucas lied about his age to join the U.S. Marine Corps. At 16, desperate to be in the fight, he stowed away on a ship bound for Iwo Jima. At 17, he performed one of the most astonishing acts of courage in World War II.

On February 20, 1945, the second day of the assault on Iwo Jima - one of the most ferocious battles of the Pacific War - Private Jack Lucas, only seventeen, and three other U.S. Marines attacked a Japanese pillbox. When two enemy grenades landed in their midst, Lucas jumped on one grenade and pulled the other under his body, saving the lives of his comrades. Lucas was blown into the air as his body was torn apart by 250 entrance wounds. He was so severely wounded that his team left him for dead.

Awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman, Lucas became the youngest Marine in U.S. history - and the youngest of all World War II service members - to receive the nation's highest military decoration.